


the grass is always greener

by WattStalf



Series: Edith Blake [9]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Edie is underage, F/M, Homophobic Language, Loss of Virginity, Masochism, PWP, Painful Sex, Punching, Romantic Face Punching, Rule 63, Vaginal Sex, and then they fuck, basically theyre both jealous of their love interest's fake relationship, my favorite tag even if its not really romantic, only eddie is genderbent, stupid fucking story stay away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 08:39:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7215409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nelson and Edie are supposed to be covering for each other, just like how Sally covers for HJ. Edie decides to take it a little bit further, because she's lonely and because she can, and because she discovers that they have a little more in common than meets the eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the grass is always greener

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know what the hell this is so please don't ask me

Edie isn't sure if Sally knows about her or not, but whether or not she does, Larry does, and even if he isn't saying anything, he's still doing something about it. Why he's singling out _her_ , when he never bothered with Ursula, she doesn't know, especially considering she puts in a lot more effort to be subtle. She really hopes those efforts have paid off, and that Larry really is the only one who's noticed that there's something more to the way that Edie looks at Sally.

Whatever the case, he at least tries to be discreet, and doesn't tell Nelson the same thing that he tells Edie. What he tells Edie is that, since she's so obviously infatuated with the Silk Spectre- “and why this team attracts so many of  _your_ kind, I'll never understand”- and since Nelly is just as involved in his affair as HJ, the two of them were to pretend to be in a relationship for publicity purposes. What he tells Nelly is just that he thinks it will be an even better cover if he has a girl on his arm as well.

Edie doesn't want to do it, but between being threatened to be removed from the team to her own fears that Larry might expose her feelings for Sally, she agrees to go along with it, much to Nelson's surprise. They're told that they don't have to do much, just be in a few pictures together and act friendly in public, but from that point on, they are partnered up for patrols and for training, and Edie is forced to see a lot more of Captain Metropolis than she ever wanted.

It's when their training one day that she brings up the other side of the coin, the other false arrangement within the team. She isn't sure what makes her ask, but there's a part of her that is curious, and that curiosity wins out.

"D'ya ever get jealous?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" Nelly asks in reply.

"Of your boyfriend an' Sally's fake fling," she says, trying to keep things casual. It is often very hard for her voice to stay casual when she talks about Sally. "I mean, I know you know that it isn't real, but do you ever, ya know, still get jealous? Since they gotta spend all that time together, an' everyone says they make such a 'charmin' couple', and all that."

He pauses, thinking before he speaks. "I guess it can get...difficult, sometimes, but I try not to let it get to me." At first, he had always denied it when she brought up his relationship- if that was even what it was; she was fuzzy on the details- with Hooded Justice, and had acted like she didn't know.

"Larry told me why we're doing this," she'd said, not adding the fact that she had figured things out a long time before Larry had come to her with the offer. Now, Nelson almost seems to enjoy having someone he can be open with, but she can tell that he would prefer someone less...well, less like her.

"How'd'ya do that?" she asks, hoping to sound nonchalant. "I mean, I bet it's really hard not to let it get to ya, right?"

Now he looks suspicious, and she knows that she's fucked up. "And why are you asking? You having some trouble with jealousy yourself?"

Her cheeks darken and she glares at him, snapping, "What? Fuck that, that's crazy. No idea what you're talkin' about!" But she knows she's overreacted and knows that she's all but given herself by now.

Nelly at least has the decency to look a little surprised before a grin breaks out over his face and he says, "So, Larry had more than one reason for sticking us together like this, then?"

"Bullshit," she argues weakly, already knowing that she has lost. And, oh, Edie  _hates_ to lose.

"I'm no expert on the subject," he continues, "but Sally isn't bad at all. You have great taste, Edie."

She scowls at him, but she can't muster up further protest and her face is so warm that she's sure she must be bright red. She'll kill him for this, she swears it, and she clenches her fists, ready to lash out physically, since her words have failed her. Pulling back a fist, she hesitates at the last second and he catches her arm.

"Whoa, whoa, Edie," he says, "calm down. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Fuck off," she mutters, yanking her hand back. "I'm not upset. I don't care either way. Just wanted to see if ya really liked it that much or not."

"Liked what?"

"Gettin' hit," she says, and Nelson's face turns guilty. "Or maybe you wouldn't like it from me cos I'm a girl an' all."

“That isn't- that's not-” He struggles to come up with a response, and now he is the one whose face is read. “I don't enjoy... _that_.”

“Really? Cos you got a black eye that tells me different.”

“I got that on patrol.”

“Yeah? That what he tells ya to tell people?”

“You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Oh, is it like that? Some big secret that he don't want anyone to know about?” she asks, smiling her most menacing smile. “Do you not actually like it? Is that what it is? Oh, you poor thing, maybe you need me to save you fr-”

She isn't expecting Nelly to fight back, and she especially isn't expecting him to fight back with his fist, but then her head snaps to the side and her face really fucking hurts, and when she rubs her cheek and looks over at him, hissing from the pain, his hand is still clenched and his chest is heaving. And then she watches his face as it dawns on him what he's done, and he looks positively horrified.

“Edie, oh, Edie,” he cries, “I'm sorry, I didn't-”

She punches him back, harder than she means to, but only because she's really enjoying herself now. There are few things she likes more than fights, and he hit her  _good_ , and this is the first time that she's ever wondered about herself like that. This is the first time that she begins to question her own reaction to pain, and she supposes that she and Nelly might have something new in common. They lock eyes when he comes back up from her hit, and she wonders if she's the only one who can feel the room shift.

“Tell me the truth about Sally,” he says. She hesitates, because it's really none of his damn business, but she's never _told_ anyone before and it would be nice for someone to know besides Larry, and there's something going on here that she feels will be broken if she tries to lie.

“I think I might love her,” she says quietly, and she's suddenly aware of how young she sounds, how stupid she sounds. There's more to it than that, but she isn't sure Nelson wants to hear about her sleepless nights and the things she's had to do to keep her own sanity, to maintain an ounce of self-control whenever she and Sally are in a room together.

He gives her a pitiful smile, like he feels sorry for her and like he thinks it's so damn cute that she said that, and she wants to punch him again. Instead, she slams her lips on his and doesn't give a fuck that she's wasting her first kiss on putting Nelson Gardner in his place. The bastard kisses her back anyway, which is good because she honestly has no idea what she's doing, but she can mimic whatever he does and learn that way. If he isn't resisting, she has to be doing something right.

“Trying to make your boyfriend jealous for once?” she teases when he pulls back from her, and he looks so guilty that she almost bursts out laughing.

“We aren't...he doesn't...” Nelly sighs. “We aren't serious, I don't think. We're just...”

“Fucking? Well, shit, that means you can fuck just about anyone you want,” she says, smirking at him. She isn't sure when she decided that this was happening, but she knows that it _is_ happening, and she knows that she really does want it to happen. It has to be the loneliness, the desperation, because she's never wanted a man like this before, and even if she was into them, she's sure Nelson wouldn't be her type.

But he's here, and he seems pretty damn lonely too, and they're in the same boat and they're stuck together and they have more in common than meets the eye, and so she's decided that she's going to fuck him. She can't be sure, because she's still inexperienced, but if she thinks he might be thinking the exact same thing. He  _did_ kiss her back, after all.

"But who says I want to fuck anyone else?" he asks.

"C'mon," she scolds, "don't tell me you're going to get all sentimental and monogamous over him, when he won't actually commit."

"And what about you? Are you hoping we can make Sally jealous like this?"

Edie glares at him and says, "It's different with me. She don't give a damn what I do, and you know it." He looks like he feels bad for saying it, which she can use to her advantage, so she frowns and says, "I'm just tired of being alone all the time. I know she'll never want me, and I just wanted something wtih...with anyone."

He's wearing down easy and he sighs and says, "Edie, you know we can't actually do this, right?"

"Cos I'm a girl?"

"No, that isn't...I'm not  _completely_ ..."

"Well, I'm not  _completely_ either. At least, apparently not enough, cos I'm standin' here going for you."

"You're too young for me, for one thing," he says, still trying to make him point.

"You don't even know how old I really am!"

"You're not eighteen," he replies, "and there's no way you can convince me otherwise."

She throws her hands up in frustration and says, "If it's cos I'm a girl, just say it! I already knew you were a faggot, you're not gonna shock me or anything."

"I don't want either of us to do it like this," he says at last. "Just because we're lonely and a little jealous doesn't mean we should..."

"Doesn't it, though? S'not like anyone has to know."

"It's not going to fix anything."

"Or it's gonna fix everything," she argues. "But we won't know until we do it, and I ain't getting any younger."

"Thank god," mutters Nelson, and then Edie kisses him again, and this time she's learned a little bit and she can keep him in it for longer, and by the time she's let him go, his resistance has faded completely. He gives her a slight nod, just to let her know she's gotten her way, and then she's scrambling out of her costume because she doesn't want to waste a single second. Either one of them could change their minds, and she wants to get it over with before she has the chance, before she gives him the chance.

He's a bit more hesitant with undressing, so she helps him out, and she has to admit that he isn't bad looking, for a man. If she has to waste this on anyone, he isn't a bad choice, and she laughs as she realizes that she's actually going to do this. She's about to fuck Captain fucking Metropolis, all because he had the balls to punch her in the face and because she can't have Sally and because he isn't sure wha's really ging on between him and HJ.

He looks self-conscious when she laughs and she waves a hand to let him know that it doesn't mean anything bad, and then she decks him, just to make sure she's seen the las of the hesitation in his eyes. The noise he makes actually causes to shiver, and then he hits her back, and they're fighting each other until they're down on the floor, and she's pretty sure her nose is broken but she couldn't care less because it's finally happening and she wants him so badly, even if it is  _him_ .

She wasn't expecting him to pin her first, but she lets him because she's sure he doesn't get the chance to feel this powerful normally, and she doesn't know what she's doing, even if the image of holding him down and riding him is doing more for her than she ever would have expect. Edie makes a mental note to revisit that image when she's alone, and then she lets Nelly do what he will.

He gets all tender and sappy out of nowhere, kissing down her neck and telling her she really is quite beautiful, and she nearly gags as she tries to pretend she isn't a little bit flattered. She knows she isn't pretty and doesn't really care, but hearing that someone, even a prissy little fag like Nelly, thinks otherwise is nice. He yelps when she bites his ear, but she's sure he loves it.

She's way too fucking tight for this, and he probably realizes it because he slows down almost as soon as he starts pushing into her. It hurts like hell and she growls, but she doesn't want to stop because she wants to  _get this over with already_ . He apologizes, saying, “I've never...not with a woman, anyway...”

“I've never, period,” she grunts. “Fuckin' get on with it.” He hesitates for a second, and she reaches up to cuff him, and even though it isn't a particularly hard hit- because she can't get a good hit in from this angle and because she's distracted, damn it- it has the desired effect, and she winces and bites her lip to keep from screaming as he thrusts the rest of the way inside her.

From that point on, all Edie can do is grit her teeth and try not to let the pain get to her. She doesn't like it all that much, and this really just reaffirms the fact that this isn't what she wants for herself, even if she doesn't know what it is she's supposed to do with Sally, or any other girl. But she's a good sport and she holds on while Nelson groans and thrusts, until he hastily pulls out to finish. He looks so ashamed of himself that she starts to give him a reassuring smile before remembering herself, and it twists into a mocking grin.

“So, how was the other side?” she asks with a snicker. “Grass greener?”

He doesn't answer her as he starts to get dressed, and when he does speak, all he says is, “I don't think you liked that very much.”

“I lost interest when ya stopped hitting,” she lies.

“I can try something else if you...if you want.”

“Nah.” She shakes her head. There's a long silence in which they both finish getting dressed, and there's the unspoken agreement that this won't be mentioned again, to anyone.

They're about to go their separate ways when she says, “Good luck with, ya know, whatever the hell you've got going on.”

“Good luck with Sally,” he replies, his smile actually genuine.

“Don't make me laugh,” she snorts.

“I wouldn't count her out just yet,” says Nelson. “You never know what someone might be willing to try.”

“I'll say!” She laughs at him then, and for the first time that day, he laughs with her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to apologize to the world at large


End file.
